35k Offer on SPG Business Amex: Ends Tonight!

The 35k offer on the SPG Business card only lasts through today, March 28, 2018. If you’re interested, it’s time to pull the trigger. Not quite sure if this is the best card for you right now? Fill out this form to get a free credit card consultation and I’ll get back to you ASAP, in time for you to take advantage of this offer if it is indeed a good play for your travel goals.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express is out with a new sign up bonus package, which historically is as high as it’s ever been.

By spending $7,000 on the card within three months of opening it, you’ll earn 35,000 SPG Starpoints

This offer ends March 28, 2018. The last time we saw the SPG Business card with a 35k offer, it had a $10,000 minimum spending requirement to unlock the entire bonus (granted it was over six months, and this $7k requirement is over three months). It’s very possibly this is your last chance to apply for and collect the bonus on the SPG Business card, so if you’ve been holding out for this bonus, I recommend reading the section of this post towards the bottom titled The Angle Considering the SPG & Marriott Merger.

I value SPG points higher than any other reward currency due to their extreme versatility–2.5 cents each. That makes this elevated bonus worth $875. Don’t forget you’d also earn at least 10,000 SPG points simply meeting the spending requirement for non-bonused spending. 45,000 Starpoints are worth roughly $1,000. Not sure if you qualify for a small business credit card? Check out How to Get Approved for Business Cards to learn more.

This is a big bonus–worth a lot of money–but it requires a decent amount of spending for a three month period. Businesses tend to have large expenses so it’s not unrealistic, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend opening it unless you can organically meet that spending requirement as Amex is known for clawing back points for manufactured spending. Read Amex Adds Terms Allowing them to Temporarily Suspend Earning and Redeeming Membership Rewards from Doctor of Credit for more info.

Quick Facts

Sign Up Bonus: 35,000 bonus Starpoints after spending $7,000 on the card in the first three months

Category Bonuses: 2x on on SPG and Marriott stays

Boingo Wifi: Complimentary, unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi on up to four devices at more than 1,000,000 Boingo hotspots worldwide

They can be used for free hotel nights starting at 2,000 points per night or transferred to dozens of airline miles including American, Asiana, Alaska, ANA, Avianca, Delta, and Lufthansa at 1:1 rate with 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 points transferred. Many SPG airline partners are not partners with any other transferrable point and are hard otherwise to earn.

SPG > Marriott > United

For those that weren’t aware, SPG and Marriott recently merged.

A problem many of us face (a show of hands please? I know I’m not the only one!) is our inability to earn United miles due to the Chase 5/24 rule. Sure, I can collect Singapore miles via tons of cards, but I have to stick to redeeming them solely on United flights typically if I want to avoid fuel surcharges. United miles give you fuel surcharge free access to Star Alliance award availability, so it’s a bummer being locked out of them.

SPG and Marriott’s relationship lends a helping hand in this aspect, since one can now transfer SPG points to Marriott Rewards, which in turn can be transferred to United at a much more favorable rate than directly transferring SPG points to United.That unlocks Star Alliance award space without having to worry about fuel surcharges. United, Copa, and Avianca are the only miles I’m aware of that can book fuel surcharge free awards across Star Alliance.

Twenty thousand Starpoints transferred to United is a measly 12,500 miles. Instead of transferring directly, do the following:

Transfer 19,000 SPG points to 57,000 Marriott points

Transfer 1,000 Marriott back to 333 Starpoints (necessary step because the starting amount of transfers from each program has to be an even thousand)

Transfer 56,000 Marriott (18,667 Starpoints) to 25,000 United miles

Or you can turn 8,000 Starpoints into 10,000 United miles.

The Angle Considering the SPG & Marriott Merger

We learned at the end of last year that Marriott is planning to introduce lots of new cards (YAY!), issued by both Chase and Amex. New products are good news for those of you that bulk up your rewards stashes with credit card bonuses as with Amex you’re limited to one bonus per product per lifetime.

If you are a points omnivore (meaning you don’t discriminate and go after as many points as possible), it would be wise to open all of the SPG and Marriott cards you don’t already have. With new products being introduced from both Chase and Amex in 2018, all four current products could disappear at some point, and perhaps without any notice. When I say disappear, I mean they would become unavailable to new applicants. I say this because it’s happened in the past in similar circumstances.

Already existing cardholders will continue to be able to use their cards for the forseeable future and would of course be notified if they were to be product changed. But if you haven’t had an SPG Business card yet and want to scoop up that bonus, now is the prime time as it may be your last chance before a new product is introduced.

Eligibility

In regards to eligibility (and everything else, for that matter), the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card and Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card are different products entirely. You can have one/have had one and still be eligible for the bonus on the other.

You are limited to getting the bonus once per lifetime on American Express personal cards. If you’ve earned the bonus on the SPG Business Card before, you can’t earn it again through a public offer. If you are targeted for the offer, then you might be able to get it again. Due to this “once in a lifetime rule”, you should only snipe public Amex offers when they’re offering historically high sign up bonuses. While we’ve seen a lower spend requirement to trigger a 35k bonus for the business card in the past, it’s still as high as we’ve seen the offer for this card get. And like I said above, it’s possible one or more of the SPG Amex cards will get killed off in 2018 if they decide to go with a different issuer.

You are also limited to holding four to five American Express credit cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Everyday, Delta, and SPG are credit cards.) Separately, you are limited to holding four to five American Express charge cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Platinum is a charge card.)Both of these Hilton cards are credit cards.

If you’re on the verge and contemplating a fifth credit or charge card, read this post–you can apply basically risk-free.

You typically won’t be approved for more than one Amex credit card in a five day period. If you want to apply for another Amex card as well as this one soon, wait at least five days after you apply for the SPG Business Card.

Won’t Count Towards Your 5/24 Limit

Business cards from American Express don’t show up on your personal credit report, so if you’re trying to fly below the 5/24 limit for the purpose of applying for more Chase cards soon, this card offer is safe to go after. It shouldn’t count.

Referral Bonuses

If you already have the SPG Business card, you can refer this new offer to someone else and earn 7,500 Starpoints when your friend gets approved.

I have an entire post dedicated to showing you how to find your own referral links and allowing readers to share their Amex referrals in the comments, and will republish it in a moment to bump it to the top of the blogroll. Feel free to share your referral there (and not in the comments of this post, please!)

Bottom Line

You can earn 35,000 bonus SPG points by opening a Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card before March 28, 2018, and spending $7,000 on it within the first six months of having it ($6,000 of which needs to be spent within the first three months).

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Sarah Page Maxwell became a miles nerd after moving her base to Buenos Aires and beginning a transient lifestyle that would be otherwise too expensive without miles and points. In addition to travel, her other passions include hot sauce, yoga, and her boston terrier Omar.

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Sarah Page Maxwell is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has earned and redeemed millions of miles for herself and others. Traveling for free, the 29-year-old has been to 20+ countries, making sure to catch as many sunsets in each that she can.

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Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.